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i want to dance better at parties, 2004

chunky move

Lee Serle (foreground), I Want to Dance Better at Parties, Chunky Move

Lee Serle (foreground), I Want to Dance Better at Parties, Chunky Move

Lee Serle (foreground), I Want to Dance Better at Parties, Chunky Move

I Want to Dance Better at Parties begins as a live documentary about five individual men’s relationship to dance. These men are represented on stage by five dancers and also appear on film projected on screens suspended above. From interviews originally conducted for a television documentary in the making, the men talk about dancing, their lives and more private thoughts and experiences.

The work begins as a factual and informative demonstration about the men and the place dancing has in their lives and gradually evolves into a more subjective and expressive work about who they are. As they divulge information of a much more personal nature the dancers on stage create physical, dynamic portraits of each subject. The piece thus moves out of the realm of documentary into being a highly impressionistic dance work, composed of a series of imagined private dances representative of the subjects’ inner lives. [Text courtesy of Chunky Move.]

credits: choreography, direction Gideon Obarzanek, video projection Michaela French, original music, sound design Jason Sweeney, Cailan Burns (PrettyBoy Crossover), lighting designer Niklas Pajani (trafficlight), costume designer Paula Levis, design realisation Donna Aston, performers Kristy Ayre, Anthony Hamilton, Martin Hansen, Jo Lloyd, Lee Serle, Delia Silvan, Adam Wheeler

performances: premiere at Chunky Move Studios, Melbourne, November-December 2004; Melbourne International Arts Festival, October 2005; Brisbane Power House, October 2005; Sydney Festival, January 2006; Frankston Performing Arts Centre, Melbourne, September 2006; Whitehorse Theatre, Melbourne, September 2006; Clocktower Centre, Melbourne, September 2006; Monash University, Melbourne, September 2006; West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul, September 2006; Warrnambool Entertainment Centre, Warrnambool, September 2006; Golden Grove Arts Theatre, Adelaide, October 2006; Darwin Entertainment Centre, Darwin, October 2006; Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, March 2007; University of California, San Diego, March 2007; University of California, Santa Barbara, March 2007; University of California, Santa Cruz, March 2007; Dancing on the Edge Festival of Contemporary Dance, Vancouver, July 2007; Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, Massachusetts, July 2007; Christchurch Festival, August 2007; Pittsburgh Australia Festival, November 2007; Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, Vermont, March 2009; Crash Arts, Boston, March 2009; Dance Victoria, Victoria, Canada, April 2009

 

Kristy Ayre, I Want to Dance Better at Parties

Kristy Ayre, I Want to Dance Better at Parties

Kristy Ayre, I Want to Dance Better at Parties

reviews/articles – realtime

chance, dance, animals & the unconscious
philipa rothfield, realtime 70, december 2005-january 2006

 

videos

 

other

i want to dance better at parties
hilary crampton, the age, november 23, 2004

i want to dance better at parties
stephanie glickman, herald sun, november 24, 2004

accessible party line is open to all comers
chloe smethhurst, the age, october 11, 2005

making the right moves
dan eady, courier mail, october 20, 2005

i want to dance better at parties
jill sykes, sydney morning herald, january 20, 2006

the foot’s fault
vicky roach, daily telegraph, january 20, 2006

moving to live
deborah jowiit, village voice, july 11, 2006

telling tales, sometimes in words, sometimes in movement
erika kinetz, new york times, july 13, 2006

dance: they can take it or leave it
robert johnson, star ledger, july 13, 2006

a moving exploration of dance
hedy weiss, chicago sun times, march 3, 2007

chunky move’s work distinctive, intriguing
tresca weinstein, times union, july 21, 2007

chunky move is last but not least of aussie troupes
jane vranish, pittsburgh post gazette, november 19, 2007

parties explores fun, awkwardness
karen campbell, boston globe, march 28, 2009

dancing into the minds of men
grania litwin, victoria times colonist, april 8, 2009

 

dvds

available for purchase via artfilms

 

www.chunkymove.com

1 January 1999